Washing machine

ABSTRACT

A washing machine is disclosed. A water supply structure includes a water current guiding unit for supplying water, which is to be supplied into an inner tub after passing through a detergent dispenser, toward a wall side of the inner tub. Accordingly, when a rinsing operation is performed after spin-drying, water cannot be supplied to a central portion of the inner tub but be supplied to the wall side of the inner tub, so that although the laundry gathers on the wall of the inner tub, water can be sufficiently supplied to the laundry to effectively remove a remaining detergent from the laundry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a washing machine capable ofeffectively removing a detergent possibly remaining at the laundry whichare placed on the wall of an inner tub by enabling water supplied in arinsing process following spin-drying to fall toward the wall of theinner tub, not toward the middle portion of the inner tub, by includinga water supply structure with a water current guiding unit for providingwater, which is supplied to the inner tub after passing through adetergent dispenser, to the side of the wall of the inner tub.

2. Description of the Related Art

The washing machine, mainly using a motor as main power, performswashing, rinsing and spin-drying processes by using interaction betweena detergent and water to remove stains and clean laundry. The washingmachine generally a mechanical part that transfers energy to the motor,the power unit, and the laundry, a controller that controls the washingprocesses, a water supply unit and a draining unit that supply and drainwater.

The washing machine is divided into a cylinder type (drum type) washingmachine, an agitator type washing machine, a pulsator type washingmachine depending on the washing method.

The agitator type washing machine performs washing by rotating anagitator in the shape of blade formed at the center of a washing tubhorizontally, and the pulsator type washing machine performs washing byusing the current of water generated by rotating a disk-type pulsator.The cylinder type washing machine performs washing such that water, adetergent and the laundry are put in to a drum having a plurality ofprotrusions and rotated at a low speed to allow the laundry to be liftedand dropped by means of the protrusions to thus be washed by thecorresponding impact.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a water supply structure of therelated art washing machine.

With reference to FIG. 1, the general washing machine 10 includes acasing 11, an outer tub 17 accommodated in the casing 11, an inner tub18 accommodated in the outer tub 17, and a suspension 19 having one endconnected to an inner circumferential surface of an upper side of thecasing 11 and the other end connected with an outer circumferentialsurface of a lower side of the outer tub 17 to support the outer tub 17.

In addition, the general washing machine 10 includes a door 14 formed atan upper portion of the washing machine 10 and opening and closing anopening of the inner tub 18 and the outer tub 17, a water supply valve16 formed at one side of the casing 11 and supplying washing water tothe inner tub 18 and the outer tub 17, and a detergent dispenser 13 anda detergent dispenser housing 12 provided at a lower side of the watersupply valve 16 and supplying a detergent.

The detergent dispenser housing 12 is formed at a top cover 20 formed atan upper end of the casing 11. An outer tub cover 17 a is formed at anupper end of the outer tub 17 and covers an auto-balancer (not shown)formed at an upper end of the inner tub 18.

A water current spreading unit 17 b is formed at a lower side of anoutlet of the detergent dispenser 13 to increase a dropping range ofwater supplied to the inner tub 18 or the outer tub 17. The watercurrent spreading unit 17 b is formed at one side of the outer tub cover17 a.

The water supply value 16 is connected with an end of a water supplyhose 15 connected with a water pipe of tap water and supplies washingwater to the interior of the detergent dispenser housing 12. Suppliedinto the detergent dispenser housing 12, the washing water sufficientlydissolves a detergent put in the detergent dispenser 13 and thensupplied to the inner tub 18 and the outer tub 17.

In the related art washing machine constructed as shown in FIG. 1, thelaundry is put on the wall of the inner tub 18 in the process ofspin-drying, and water (W) supplied for rinsing after spin-drying fallsto the middle of the inner tub 18 by the water current spreading unit 17b as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1.

Thus, because water supplied for performing rinsing after spin-drying isnot provided to the wall side of the inner tub 18 where the laundry isplaced but falls to the middle portion of the inner tub 18 where thereis not much laundry, a problem arises in that water can hardly contactwith the laundry so the detergent remaining in the laundry cannot besufficiently removed.

In addition, before the rinsing operation after spin-drying, a usershould personally collect the laundry from the wall side of the innertub to the middle portion of the inner tub, making the user cumbersome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, in order to address the above matters the various featuresdescribed herein have been conceived. One aspect of the exemplaryembodiments is to provide a washing machine capable of allowing asufficient amount of water to be directly supplied via a detergentdispenser to an inner wall side of an inner tub when the laundry isplaced at the inner wall side of an inner tub.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a washing machinecapable of sufficiently removing a detergent remaining in the laundryplaced on an inner wall side of an inner tub by constantly supplyingwater toward the inner wall side of the inner tub during a rinsingoperation after performing spin-drying.

This specification provides a washing machine including: a casingforming an external appearance; a top cover formed at an upper portionof the casing; a door that opens and closes an input hole formed on thetop cover; an outer tub installed within the casing; an inner tubrotatably installed within the outer tub; a detergent dispenser formedat the top cover; and a water current guiding unit that guides wateroutputted from the detergent dispenser toward the wall of the inner tub.

The water current guiding unit may be formed at an outlet of thedetergent dispenser.

With such a structure, although the laundry is placed on the wall of theinner tub in the washing, rinsing and spin-drying processes, water canbe directly supplied to the laundry sufficiently, and thus, thedetergent remaining in the laundry can be effectively washed out.

The water current guiding unit may be formed at the detergent dispenseror at the top cover where the detergent dispenser is mounted, or at theouter cover mounted at the upper end of the outer tub. That is, thewater current guiding unit can be formed at various positions and may beintegrally formed with the components where the water current guidingunit is formed.

The water current guiding unit may be formed to be inclined toward thewall of the inner tub. In this case, the water current guiding unit maybe inclined such that it can supply water to a certain position or at acertain angle regardless of water pressure of the supplied water.

The width of the water current guiding unit may be larger than or thesame as that of the outlet of the detergent dispenser. Namely, whenviewed from the front side, the width of the water current guiding unitis larger than or at least the same as that of the outlet of the waterdetergent dispense, whereby water that would fall directly to the middleportion of the inner tub may be reduced when supplied through thedetergent dispenser.

The water current guiding unit may be formed at a front side of water interms of its water proceeding direction when the water is outputted fromthe detergent dispenser, whereby the proceeding direction of watersupplied through the detergent dispenser can be changed so as to besupplied toward the wall of the inner tub.

This specification also provides a washing machine including: a casingforming an external appearance; a top cover formed at an upper portionof the casing; a door that opens and closes an input hole formed on thetop cover; an outer tub installed within the casing; an inner tubrotatably installed within the outer tub; a detergent dispenser formedat the top cover; and a water current guiding unit that guides wateroutputted from the detergent dispenser toward the wall of the inner tub,wherein the water current guiding unit allows water to be supplied to acertain position regardless of water pressure of water outputted fromthe detergent dispenser.

The water current guiding unit may be formed at a front side of water interms of its proceeding direction when the water is outputted from thedetergent dispenser.

The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of the present invention when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a water supply structure of therelated art washing machine;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing a washing machineaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a water current guiding unit applied tothe washing machine in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view schematically showing a washing machineaccording to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion ‘A’ in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of a detergent dispenser in FIG. 5;and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a water supply structure including awater current guiding unit applied to the washing machine according tostill another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The washing machine according to embodiments of the present inventionwill now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing the present invention, if a detailed explanation for arelated known function or construction is considered to unnecessarilydivert the gist of the present invention, such explanation has beenomitted but would be understood by those skilled in the art.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing a washing machineaccording to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is aplan view showing a water current guiding unit applied to the washingmachine in FIG. 2. With reference to FIG. 2, a washing machine having awater supply structure according to one embodiment of the presentinvention includes: a casing 110 that forms an external appearance; atop cover 111 formed at an upper portion of the casing 110, a door 140that opens and closes an input hole 112 formed on the top cover 111 forallowing the laundry to be received therethrough, an outer tub 170installed within the casing 110, an inner tub 180 rotatably installedwithin the outer tub 170, a detergent dispenser 130 formed at the topcover 111, a water current guiding unit 120 that guides water outputtedfrom the detergent dispenser 130 toward the wall of the inner tub 180.

An auto-balancer 200 is formed at an upper edge portion of the inner tub180 to allow the inner tub 180 to be balanced, and washing blades 220are rotatably installed on the bottom of the inner tub 180 and forms arotatable water current.

Suspensions 190 support the outer tub 170 such that the outer tub 170 issuspended within the casing 110 and include dampers 210 formed at theirends to absorb vibration of the outer tub 170. A driving unit 230 isprovided at a lower side of the outer tub 170 and provides rotationalforce to the inner tub 180 and the washing blades 220.

A control panel includes a controller 160 provided at a front side of anupper end of the casing 110 and controlling an operation of the washingmachine 100.

A water supply valve 160 is provided at one side of the casing 110 andsupplies cold water or hot water into the inner tub 180 or the outer tub170 according to a control signal of the controller 260. A detergentdispenser housing 135 is provided at a lower side of the water supplyvalve 160 and accommodates a detergent dispenser 130. The water supplyvalve 160 is provided with hot water or cold water from a water supplyhose 150 connected with the washing machine 100.

Legs 240 are formed on a lower surface of the casing 110 to allow thewashing machine 100 to be mounted horizontally with the ground.

An annular outer tub cover 171 is formed at an upper end of the outertub 170 and covers the auto-balancer 200.

A water current guiding unit 120 is formed at the lower cover 170positioned below an outlet of the detergent dispenser 130 and guideswater outputted from the detergent dispenser 130 toward the wall of theinner tub 180.

Here, the water current guiding unit 120 may be formed at the outlet ofthe detergent dispenser 130. Namely, in order to change the direction ofa flow of water outputted through the detergent dispenser 130, it wouldbe more effective to form the water current guiding unit 120 at the sideof the outlet of the detergent dispenser 130.

Reference letter ‘C’ in FIG. 2 denotes the laundry.

The water current guiding unit 120 according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention will now be described in detail with referenceto FIG. 3.

As shown In FIG. 3, the water current guiding unit 120 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention is formed at an upper endof the outer tub 170, specifically, at the annular outer cover 171 thatcovers the auto-balancer 200.

The water current guiding unit 120 has the opposite slope each other.Namely, the outer cover 171 is sloped to the rotational center of theinner tub 180 from the edge portions of the inner tub 180, while thewater current guiding unit 120 is sloped to the edge portions of theinner tub 180 from the rotational center of the inner tub 180 (See FIG.2). Namely, the water current guiding unit 120 is sloped to the wall ofthe inner tub 180

The water current guiding unit 120 includes a water current changingunit 121 with which water outputted from the detergent dispenser 130first collides and a water supply hole 122 that supplies water, whosedirection has been changed by the water current changing unit 121,toward the wall surface of the inner tub 180. Because the water currentguiding unit 120 or the water current changing unit 121 is formed at afront side of a direction in which water is outputted from the detergentdispenser 130, so that the water current guiding unit 120 or the watercurrent changing unit 121 may change the flow of water toward the wallsurface of the inner tub 180.

In this case, preferably, the water supply hole 122 is positioned on thesame straight line as the wall surface of the inner tub 180.

The width L1 of the water current guiding unit 120 should be larger thanor at least the same as the width of the outlet of the detergentdispenser 1380. If the width L1 of the water current guiding unit 120 isshorter than the width of the outlet of the detergent dispenser 130, theamount of water that drops to the central portion of the inner tub 180after colliding with the outer cover 171 would increase. Thus, with thisproblem considered, the width L1 of the water current guiding unit 120needs to be larger than or the same as the width of the outlet of thedetergent dispenser 130.

Here, an inclination degree or the material of the water current guidingunit 120 may be determined considering the fact that water should besupplied at a certain angle or to a certain position no matter howstrong the water pressure of water supplied after passing through thedetergent dispenser 130 is. Namely, the water current guiding unit 120should supply water to a certain position regardless of the waterpressure of the water outputted from the detergent dispenser 130.

The water current guiding unit 120 and the outer cover 171 may beintegrally formed. In this case, preferably, the water current guidingunit 120 and the outer cover 171 are formed as an injection moldedproduct.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view schematically showing a washing machineaccording to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is anenlarged sectional view of a portion ‘A’ in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is abottom perspective view of a detergent dispenser in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a water current guiding unit 123 according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention is formed at adetergent dispenser 131.

The detergent dispenser 131 is detachably installed in the housing 135,and includes the water current guiding unit 123 formed at the side of anoutlet 131 a externally discharging water supplied by the water supplyhose 150 and the water supply valve 160.

The water current guiding unit 123 may be integrally formed togetherwith the detergent dispenser 131 and may be formed as a separatecomponent and combined. When the water current guiding unit 123 and thedetergent dispenser 131 are formed as an integral one body, the bothunits can be formed as an injection molded product. The water currentguiding unit 123 is inclined toward the wall of the inner tub 180 toguide water, which is discharged through the outlet 131 a of thedetergent dispenser 131, toward the wall of the inner tub 180, formed ata front side of the direction of the flow of the water discharged fromthe detergent dispenser 131.

In this case, a sufficient gap should be provided between the watercurrent guiding unit 123 and the outlet 131 a of the detergent dispenser131. With such gap, the amount of supplied water would be reduced andthe detergent dispenser housing 135 or the top cover 111 and thedetergent dispenser 131 would collide when the detergent dispenser 131is mounted.

The water or detergent water (See ‘W’ in FIG. 4) which has passedthrough the detergent dispenser 131 can be supplied to the laundrypositioned near the wall surface of the inner tub 181 by the watercurrent guiding unit 123 (See the arrow in FIG. 4).

Here, like the water current guiding unit 120 according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 3, preferably, thewater current guiding unit 123 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has a widthlarger than or the same as that of the outlet of the detergent dispenser131.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the detergent dispenser 131 according toanother exemplary embodiment of the present invention is viewed from alower side, the water current guiding unit 123 has a curved portion.Here, in order to effectively send water, which has passed through thedetergent dispenser 131, to the interior of the inner tub 180, the endof the water current guiding unit 123 should have the same shape as thatof the inner tub 180, and accordingly, the water current guiding unit123 has the curved portion.

Water and detergent water supply holes 133 a and 133 b are formed at thedetergent dispenser 123, and first guide portions 135 and 136 areprotrusively formed around the supply holes 133 a and 133 b in order toguide water or detergent water, which has passed through the supplyholes 133 a and 133 b, toward the water current guiding unit 123.

The second guide portions 134 may be additionally formed to guide wateror detergent water, which flows toward the water current guiding unit123 by the first guide portions 135 and 136, to one position.

The second guide portions 134 serve to guide flowing water or detergentwater, so they are preferably formed at both sides of the supply holes133 a formed at the outermost portions. Namely, the second guideportions 134 may be formed only at the outer side of the supply holes133 a formed at the outermost portions and may not be formed over thesupply hole 133 b formed at the central portion.

In this manner, the first guide portions 135 and 136 and the secondguide portion 134 can be formed to maximize the function of the watercurrent guiding unit 123.

With reference to FIG. 7, a water current guiding unit 124 according toa still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is formedat the top cover 113. Here, a detergent dispenser 132 has the samestructure as that of the detergent dispenser 130 shown in FIG. 2.

The water current guiding unit 124 includes a water current changingunit 125 with which water outputted from an outlet 132 a of thedetergent dispenser 132 first collides and a water supply hole 126 thatsupplies water, which has collided with the water current changing unit125, toward the wail surface of the inner tub 180.

Here, the water current changing unit 125 is positioned at a front sideof the direction in which water supplied through the detergent dispenser132 flows, and sloped toward the wall surface of the inner tub 180. Thewater, which has been changed in its proceeding direction by the watercurrent changing unit 125, passes through the water supply hole 126 andthen is supplied toward the wall surface of the inner tub 180.Preferably, the water supply hole 126 is positioned on the same straightline as the wall surface of the inner tub 180.

Preferably, the water current guiding unit 124 is formed with a widthwhich is larger than or the same as that of the detergent dispenser 132.

The operation of the washing machine 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will now be described with referenceto FIG. 2.

First, a user may put a detergent in the detergent dispenser 130 andpresses an operation button provided at the controller 160 to allow coldwater or hot water to be sprayed from the water supply hose 150.

The cold water or hot water sprayed from the water supply hose 150passes through the water supply valve 160 and the detergent dispenserhousing 135, is discharged to the detergent dispenser 130, and thenmixed with a detergent stored in the detergent dispenser 130 to formwashing water.

The weight of the laundry collected at the interior of the inner tub 180is sensed by the controller 260 to adjust the amount of washing watersupplied into the inner tub 180. When the washing water is filled in theinner tub 180, the driving unit 230 operates. As the driving unit 230operates, the inner tub 180 and the washing blades 220 are rotated, andaccordingly, a rotational water current is formed in the washing waterfilled in the inner tub 180. When the washing operation is completed,the washing blades 220 is stopped from rotating and the inner tub 180 isrotated to remove the washing water from the laundry according tocentrifugal force.

As shown in FIG. 2, the laundry (C) which has gathered on the inner wallof the inner tub 180 owing to the centrifugal force in the spin-dryingprocess still remains at the wall surface of the inner tub 180.

In this state, when a rinsing operation is performed, water (W), whichhas been supplied through the detergent dispenser 130, can first collidewith the water current changing unit 121 of the water current guidingunit 120 formed at the outer cover 171 and then immediately supplied tothe laundry (C) gathered at the wall side of the inner tub 180 throughthe water supply hole 122 (See the arrow in FIG. 2).

This water supply principle can be applied in the same manner when thewater current guiding unit as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 is used.

Accordingly, because water is directly supplied to the laundry (C),detergent remaining at the laundry can be more effectively removed, andthus, the rinsing performance can be improved.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understoodthat the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of thedetails of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, butrather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in theappended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fallwithin the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metesand bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

1. A washing machine comprising: a casing forming an externalappearance; a top cover formed at an upper portion of the casing; a doorthat opens and closes an input hole formed on the top cover; an outertub installed within the casing; an inner tub rotatably installed withinthe outer tub; a detergent dispenser formed at the top cover; and awater current guiding unit that guides water outputted from thedetergent dispenser toward the wall of the inner tub.
 2. The washingmachine of claim 1, wherein the water current guiding unit is formed atan outer tub cover mounted at an upper end of the outer tub.
 3. Thewashing machine of claim 2, wherein the water current guiding unitcomprises: a water current changing unit to which water discharged fromthe detergent dispenser first collides; and a water supply hole thatsupplies water, whose direction has been changed by the water currentchanging unit, toward the wall surface of the inner tub.
 4. The washingmachine of claim 3, wherein the water current changing unit is slopedtoward the wall of the inner tub and the outer tub cover is slopedtoward a rotational center of the inner tub.
 5. The washing machine ofclaim 3, wherein the water supply hole is positioned at the samestraight line as the wall surface of the inner tub.
 6. The washingmachine of claim 2, wherein the width of the water current guiding unitis greater than or the same as the width of an outlet of the detergentdispenser.
 7. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the water currentguiding unit is formed at the top cover.
 8. The washing machine of claim7, wherein the water current guiding unit comprises: a water currentchanging unit to which water discharged from the detergent dispenserfirst collides; and a water supply hole that supplies water, whosedirection has been changed by the water current changing unit, to thewall surface of the inner tub.
 9. The washing machine of claim 8,wherein the water current changing unit is sloped toward the wall of theinner tub.
 10. The washing machine of claim 8, wherein the water supplyhole is positioned at the same straight line as the wall surface of theinner tub.
 11. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein the water currentguiding unit is formed at the detergent dispenser.
 12. The washingmachine of claim 11, wherein a lower portion of the detergent dispensercomprises: a supply hole that discharges water; and a guide unit thatguides water that has passed through the supply hole toward the watercurrent guiding unit.
 13. The washing machine of claim 12, wherein theguide unit comprises: a first guide portion protrusively formed aroundthe supply hole; and a second guide portion that guides water, whichflows toward the water current guiding unit by the first guide portion,to one position.
 14. The washing machine of claim 11, wherein the watercurrent guiding unit is sloped toward the wall of the inner tub.
 15. Thewashing machine of claim 11, the water current guiding unit ispositioned at the same straight line as the wall surface of the innertub.
 16. The washing machine of claim 11, wherein the width of the watercurrent guiding unit is greater than or the same as the width of theoutlet of the detergent dispenser.
 17. The washing machine of claim 1,wherein the water current guiding unit guides water to a certainposition regardless of the pressure of the water discharged from thedetergent dispenser.
 18. The washing machine of claim 1, wherein thewater current guiding unit is formed at a front side of a proceedingdirection of water discharged from the detergent dispenser.